Department for External Church Relations
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The Ukrainian Orthodox Church’s community at Mikhalcha village marks two years of its prayer vigil for their church
On February 8, 2021, the Day of the Synaxis of New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church, the community of the church of the Dormition of the Most Holy Mother of God at the Mikhalcha village, Storozhynets district, Chernovtsy Region, Ukraine, marked the 2nd anniversary of its prayer vigil for its right to remain in the canonical Church, the Union of Orthodox Journalists reports with reference to the press service of the Diocese of Chernovtsy and Bukovina. That day, the parishioners of the church of the Holy Dormition together with their rector prayed at the Divine Liturgy.
According to the faithful of the Diocese of Chernovtsy, it was the feat of the new martyrs that inspired them to stand up for their faith. As the diocese’s people noted, during these two years the faithful of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church at the Mikhalcha village had to endure mockery and abuse from representatives of ‘the Orthodox Church of Ukraine’. The church of the Holy Dormition was subjected to outrage: in 2019, the OCU supporters rammed the old door of the church; in 2020, about one hundred young people in masks (some armed with knuckle-dusters) unsealed the vestibule doors in an attempt to get into the church of the Dormition.
The capture of churches belonging to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church by schismatics continues. Thus, on February 6, 2021, supporters of ‘the Orthodox Church of Ukraine’ cut off the locks of the church of St. Sergius of Radonezh at the Galinovka village, Vladimir-Volynsky district, Volyn Region, and actually seized it. It is reported by the website of the diocese of Vladimir-Volynsky of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The whole process was video-recorded.
As was reported earlier, for two days on February 3 and 4, 2021, the OCU representatives led by their ‘priest’ picketed the state administration of Volyn Region in Ukraine, demanding the registration of documents that would make it possible for a schismatic organization to come into possession of the church of St. Sergius at the Galinovka village, which belongs to the religious community of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Under the pressure and threats from the schismatics, their statute was registered by the regional state administration (RSA) executives.
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